Vote

The Guantanamo Bay prisoners have a right to a fair trial and treatment in accordance with international law. This is the clear message in Ole ANDREASEN's (ELDR, DK) own-initiative report which was adopted today by 425 votes in favour, 62 against and 29 abstentions.

Since January 2002, some 600 prisoners from around 40 countries have been at the Camp Delta Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They are accused of war crimes and have been deprived of access to justice. In their report, MEPs shed light on the legal aspects of the affair and also emphasise the negative political impact this situation may have on the transatlantic partnership.

Parliament is calling on the US authorities to put an immediate end to the legal limbo in which the Guantanamo Bay detainees have been since their arrival, and to guarantee them immediate access to justice in order to determine the status of each individual detainee on a case-by-case basis. MEPs regret that an ad hoc international criminal court has not yet been set up by the UN Security Council, which it says would be "the most expedient way" of dealing with the case. They also regret the fact that the United States has decided not to ensure access for the detainees to the US courts, which would guarantee them a fair and open trial by an independent and impartial tribunal.

MEPs urge the US administration to confirm that the "ad hoc military commissions" established in the President's Military Order of November 2001 will meet all international law standards. They also ask the US authorities to give representative of national states, international institutions, relatives and independent observers access to sites of detention and to allow them free communication with the detainees.

As regards the possible impact of this situation on the EU-US partnership, the Foreign Affairs Committee says it shares the view that the transatlantic relationship is invaluable and could be a formidable force for good in the world, as stated by the European Council, provided basic human rights are clearly respected as universal and non-negotiable. MEPs emphasise that security is an all-encompassing collective concept that cannot be tailored only to the interests and exigencies of one national state. Lastly, they recommend, for the next EU-US summit, the creation of a long-term collaborative framework and an Action Plan for the War on Terrorism.

They emphasise in this connection that "international terrorism must be combated firmly, not only by military means but above all by addressing the roots of the tremendous political, social, economic and ecological problems of today's world".
Press enquiries:

Joëlle Fiss
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73840
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 41075
e-mail :  foreign-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Parliament has adopted a controversial consultation report in which MEPs suggest deep changes to the reforms being proposed to the market intervention rules (known as common market organisations or CMOs) for cotton, olive oil, tobacco and hops, in order to bring those sectors into line with the recent general reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). "Partial decoupling" of aid is the phrase which once again takes centre stage in the CAP reforms: most farm subsidies will no longer be linked to production volumes and EU farmers will receive instead direct single payments, regardless of their level of production. The Commission expects that this measure will allow the farmers increasingly to grow what the market wants. Furthermore, the European funds for all these products would be reduced after 2006 from € 4 223 million to € 4 110 million per year.

However cotton, olive and tobacco production is concentrated in the poorest regions of Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal and the Commission's reforms will therefore have a significant effect on those regions. The Chamber's response has come in a single report drafted by four MEPs (María RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS (PES, E) for cotton, Sergio BERLATO (UEN, I) for tobacco, Vincenzo LAVARRA (PES, I) for olive oil and Xaver MAYER (EPP-ED, D) for hops). In this report MEPs highlight their concern about the negative effects that a reduction of funds and an overly severe decoupling of aid could have on these regions. The main worry is the risk of production being abandoned and of declining competitiveness of rural areas.

After days of impassioned debate at the committee level, Parliament as a whole has now agreed on some decoupling of aid, although they say the percentage should be more flexible and the Member States should have a degree of freedom in how to implement the reform.

Cotton

More specifically, MEPs say that in the case of cotton 80 per cent of aid should be still linked to production, instead of 40 per cent, as the Commission suggested. The Commission proposed for the cotton sector a partial decoupling of aid: 60 per cent would be a direct income aid to the farmers and 40 per cent would remain as area payments (distributed per hectare). The distribution of the funds would be measured according to a reference period - the cultivation during 2000-2002. The rest of the expenses for cotton would be transferred to the rural development measures and for the restructuring of the regions concerned.

The report strongly rejects those measures. The rapporteur for the cotton sector asserted that such system of payments would provoke the abandonment of production in regions which are fairly poor. Therefore 80 per cent of the aid should remain as area payments and the reform should enter into force only in 2007, say MEPs. Before that, the Commission should present by January 2006 an assessment study with the potential consequences of this decoupling of aid for the cotton-producing regions, including if needed proposals to change the percentages.

Tobacco

In the case of tobacco, 70 per cent of the financial payments should remain linked to production. In view of the differences between producer Member States and between product varieties, MEPs say, the part of the aid not included in the single payment must be used with great flexibility by the Member States in order to maintain the production in areas where the continuation is essential for social and economic reasons. Furthermore, up to 10 per cent from the 70 per cent of aid linked to production may be used by the States for measures intended to improve product quality or for restructuring policies in the sector. However, the Commission wants the total decoupling of aid for tobacco, as a transitional stage towards the gradual disappearance of the tobacco payments.

Olive oil

For olive oil, however, whereas the Commission proposes decoupling only 60 per cent of aid, MEPs are calling for "a minimum of 60 per cent" and for the Member States to have the right to increase this to 100 per cent. The coupled percentage will be given directly to the Member States so they can distribute it among farmers as an area payment (either per hectare or per number of trees). The farmers will be forced to meet social, landscape and quality criteria. MEPs specially stress the idea that the payments should ensure the quality of the olive oil and that consideration should be given to measures such as organic production, hand-harvesting and other measures not related to quantity. Therefore part of the funds linked to production could be kept by the States as "special aid" for quality standards.

As regard of the quality standards, Mr Lavarra's report on olive oil and table olives also forbids the mixture of any type of oils or fats with olive oil. Furthermore, it prohibits the use of the wording "olive oil" or any other image that suggest such product in the label of products which are derived from any mixture of vegetable oils.

Another controversial amendment states that the origin of virgin and extra virgin olive oils will have to be indicated in the label, on the basis of the country in which the olives were harvested and not of the country where the oil was produced. MEPs consider that this compulsory indication will help to fight against "foodstuff piracy". During the negotiations some Spanish MEPs complained that Italy sells a large amount of olive oil each year which is marketed as Italian olive oil, although the olives have been grown in countries like Spain or Greece.

Press enquiries:
Maria Andrés Marìn
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73603
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 44299
e-mail :  agri-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Only two days after the 8 March, International Women's Day, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on the "European Union's policies on gender equality". This resolution is a follow up to the oral questions (B5-0064/0065/2004) that Anna KARAMANOU (PES, GR), Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities asked to the representative of the European Commission Margot WALLSTRÖM.

The most important point of this resolution is the equal participation of women in the future Commission. Parliament appeals to each Member State to put forward a list of three candidates of both sexes to be nominated Commissioner (as proposed by the Convention on the future of Europe). There has never been a woman President of the Commission, and MEPs call on the Member States this time actively to consider women candidates. MEPs say the next President of the Commission should appoint a Commissioner whose main responsibility would be women's rights and equal opportunities. To perform well such a Commissioner would need adequate staff, financial means and even a whole new DG.

In the light of the enlargement of the EU, MEPs request the Commission, the Council and the new Member States to put women's rights and gender equality at the top of their political agenda. In the new Member States the current trend of declining women's participation in social, political and economic life should be reversed. To fight this negative tendency, leaders of all political parties of the EU and accession countries need to work together. MEPs call for electoral lists for the June elections to be gender balanced.

MEPs also reiterate the need for new directive based on article 13 covering gender discrimination outside the scope of employment and encourage the Council to keep to its decision made in the Nice Council in December 2000 on the subject.

The European Parliament expresses its concern about the attitude of some Member States. Incorporating gender directives in their respective legislation is not enough to achieve real equality of women and men in everyday life. They also need to introduce the necessary supporting measures to eradicate the inequality that still exists between women and men, as shown in the Commission's first annual report on gender disparities.

Press enquiries:
Katarzyna Prandota
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73479
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 31051
e-mail :  femm-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Parliament adopted a legislative resolution that broadly agrees with the Council's common position. Under the Directive, all EU citizens shall have the right of residence in another Member State if they:

• are workers or self-employed persons in the host Member State; or
• have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social security system of the host Member State; or
• follow a course of studies in the host country.

In these cases, the residence rights will also be valid for the family members of those who move to the other Member State.

Parliament believes it has achieved the maximum possible result, since the Council has accepted a number of EP amendments from first reading. Compared with the original proposal, the following improvements have been reached:

• the definition of "family member" includes a registered partner if the host State treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage. This means that in some Member States, same-sex couples can also benefit from the Directive;
• the Member States shall facilitate the entry and residence of other family members than those in a direct descending or ascending line if their health situation makes them dependent on the Union citizen concerned;
• residence rights will not be affected by temporary absences not exceeding six months a year;
• divorce will not affect residence rights of family members who are nationals of a Member State.

Other amendments, however, have not been accepted by Council. Amongst those rejected were the amendment recognising the same sex spouse and registered partner in accordance with the legislation of the home Member State, and the amendment recognising non-married, unregistered partners. Furthermore, family members must now be resident for a continuous period of five years (as opposed to four years as Parliament initially wanted) to acquire the right of permanent residence. The Directive will apply from 1 July 2005.

Press enquiries:
Danny de Paepe
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73605
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 42531
e-mail :  libe-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Parliament adopted this report by Paolo COSTA (ELDR, I) without amendments. The application of the International Safety Management Code will now be extended to cover all ships in Community waters. Port authorities will now be able to deny access or to refuse the departure of any ship not in possession of ISM certificates.

Press enquiries:
Ton Huyssoon
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73856
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 42408
e-mail :  region-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

In adopting Paolo COSTA's (ELDR, I) report without amendments, the EU will now be able to facilitate international rail transport by participating in the development of international rules for the continent of Europe and railway interoperability. The Community's accession will only be possible with the entry into force of the Vilnius Protocol of 3 June 1999 amending the COTIF (Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail), which is, at present, in the process of ratification. This Vilnius Protocol includes a clause allowing the accession of regional economic integration organisations such as the Community.

Press enquiries:
Ton Huyssoon
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 73856
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 42408
e-mail :  region-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Following the reform of the Financial Regulation in 2002, the EU now needs to have a specific legal framework in order to provide grants to organisations with European level activities in the field of education and training and in the field of youth policy. By adopting two second reading recommendations from Doris PACK (EPP-ED, D) (education) and Christa PRETS (PES, A) (youth policy), Parliament approved the setting up of an action plan in each of the two areas concerned for the period 2004-2006. The only amendments adopted seek to avoid problems caused by the delay to the start of the programmes, which should have been on 1 January 2004.

The budget for the education and training programme is €77 million, while that for youth activities is €13 million.
Recipients of EU education grants include the Colleges of Europe in Bruges and Natolin, the European University Institute in Florence and the Academy of European Law in Trèves. The main beneficiary of youth grants is the EU European Youth Forum, made up of national youth councils and international youth NGOs. This forum represents the interests of young people across Europe in international bodies, notably the EU, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

Press enquiries:
Pernilla Jourde
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 72420
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 43411
e-mail :  cult-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

Parliament has adopted a decision on the future number of inter-parliamentary delegations, delegations to Joint Parliamentary Committees and delegations to Parliamentary Cooperation Committees.

The decision sets up three categories of delegation:

• Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs): these are established with the parliaments of states associated with the Community or States with which accession negotiations have been initiated;
• Parliamentary Cooperation Committees (PCCs): these are established with parliaments of countries with which the EU has a Partnership and Cooperation agreement (only the former USSR);
• Delegations for relations with other countries.

The JPCs with the ten accession countries will disappear. On the other hand:

• the Delegation to South East Europe (the Balkans) will be divided into a JPC EU-Croatia, a JPC EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo).
• the PCC Ukraine-Moldova-Belarus will be divided into a PCC EU-Ukraine, a PCC EU-Moldova and a Delegation for relations with Belarus.

Other changes:

• Two new JPCs will be created with Mexico and Chile, as a result of the association agreements with these countries;
• A Delegation for relations with Iran will be created, though bilateral work would not begin until a decision of principle was taken by the Conference of Presidents;
• A Delegation will be set up to the new Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly;
• There will be a Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, made up in the first instance of members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on Security and Defence.

The parliamentary dimension of the WTO will be dealt with by the Committee on International Trade.

These changes will enter force after the June European elections.

Press enquiries:
Enrico D'Ambrogio
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 72795
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 42591
e-mail :  constit-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

By approving the Council's common position on the creation of a Community Action Programme for 2004-06, Parliament adopted the legal base which is now required for the support of organisations running European level activities in the field of culture. Parliament adopted five amendments proposed by the rapporteur Ulpu IIVARI (PES, FIN) These aim to formalise the agreement reached with the Council during the budget conciliation process on the need for a two year transitional period for the advance earmarking of some of these grants, and to ensure the programme can operate this year, despite the delay in its entry into force, which was scheduled for 1 January 2004. The total budget for the programme is €19 million.

Organisations such as the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages and the Mercator network centres (an network which aims to improve the exchange of information on minority languages and cultures) will continue to receive support as before, while other organisations of European interest will need to go through an application and selection process from the third year onwards. In this way, the advance earmarking of recipients by the budgetary authority will be phased out.

Press enquiries:
Pernilla Jourde
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 72420
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 43411
e-mail :  cult-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

The House adopted a non-binding resolution on the common system of taxation applicable to mergers, divisions, transfers of assets and exchanges of shares concerning companies of different Member States

Press enquiries:
Elina Viilup
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 74794
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 31056
e-mail :  econ-press@europarl.eu.int

Vote

The House adopted a non-binding resolution on the establishment of European Partnerships in the framework of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Press enquiries:
Marjory van den Broeke
(Strasbourg) tel.(33-3) 881 72208
(Brussels)  tel.(32-2) 28 44304
e-mail :  foreign-press@europarl.eu.int